Henry niemann



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. NIEMANN.

GAR GOUPLING.

No. 414,118. PatentedOct. 29, 1889.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N N A M E I N H (No Model.)

GAR COUPLING.

Patented-Oct. 29, 1889.

W/T/VESSES:

ATTORNEY N. PEYERS, PhMo-Lflhngrnpher, Wuhinggon. n. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY NIEMANN, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF TO FREDERICKL. ROI-ILFING, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-CCU PLI NG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 414,118, dated October29, 1889. Application filed January 21,1889. Serial No. 296,967. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY NIEMANN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Couplings, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings,

My invention relates to a novel and improved construction of couplingsfor railwaycars, designed especially to be automatic in action.

The dangers to life and limb attendant upon the use of. the common linkand pin-the means for coupling universally used upon freight-cars-havelong been known and recognized, and the frequent cruel and reallyunnecessary deaths and maimings of train-men caused by them have keptsuch dangers constantly before the public mind. On such account thedesirability of some practical and commercially-feasible means forlessening those dangers and for doing away with the now necessary butextremely dangerous practice of the brakeman having to go in between thecars for the coupling together thereof is universally admitted. Suchmeans, to be effective and to meet the requirements of railway traffic,must be automatic in action and self-coupling as thercars designed to beconnected come together; must be arranged for uncoupling from the roofor side of the car, or from both, that fiyin g switches and the divisionof atrain while still in motion, when necessary, may be readily andsafely effected; must have some scope of play or adjustment withinreasonable limits to compensate for variance of height of the trucks orframes of adjacent cars; must have provision whereby the ordinary linkor pin may be used, as would be necessary when a car provided with suchan automatic coupler were next to one not so provided; must be adaptedequally well for attachment to any cars either in repairs or in newconstructions; must be reliable in operation, the couplings holdingsecurely against danger of disunion from sudden jars, joltings, orbumps; must be of simple construction and few parts,

readily assembled, and easily understood and operated.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to furnish a car-couplingpossessing these requisites; to which ends it consists in the features,arrangements, and combinations more particularly hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the drawings is illustrated an einbodiment and application of myinvention, in which drawings- Figure 1 is a top View of my improvedcoupling applied to and in use on two contiguous cars; Fig. 2, a sectionon line 00 w of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an end view or elevation of a car withthe coupling in place thereon, but with the coupling-bar lift-ed.

In the figures, the reference-numeral 1 indicates the coupling-head uponthe end of a draw-bar, secured in the usual way to the truck or frame ofa car. In the lower portion of this draw-head is the cavity 2, throughwhose upper andlower walls is the aperture 3, the cavity and aperturehaving the functions of the ordinary draw-head for the reception andretention of the common link-and-pin coupling when it is necessary, asbefore indicated, to use such a coupling. Above such cavity 2 the sideand rear walls of the coupling-head are continued upward to form therecess 4, having an open front and top. Through the side walls of thisrecess passes, or in them is seated, the pivot and catch pin or rod 6,on which and at one side of the recess is pivoted the coupling rod orbar 5, formed with the liook-head 7 upon the under side of its front orfree end. Such coupling rod or bar is also beveled, as shown at 27, uponone side at such front end, (the outer side relatively to its seating inthe recess of the coupling-head,) the mouth of the recess being alsosomewhat fiared, as at 28, that the hook end of one coupling-bar may besurely guided within the recess of an adjacent coupler and over the pin6, even though the head of bar 5 hit slightly to one side of the properengaging-point.

As in use the hook end of one coupling-bar is to pass over and catchupon the pin 6 of the adjacent coupling-head, the hook end is undercutto a greater or less extent, as shown at 8, that it may not readily bethrown upward from engagement therewith by any normal joltings orbumpings, and for further security to such end a sprin g may be arrangedto take upon the upper side of the coupling-bar, such means being shownby the flat or leaf spring,

27, suitably secured. at one end and taking at its free end upon thebar. It is evident with or top of the car another set of coactingdevices, as follows, is brought into requisition: f Pivotal'ly seated inthe side walls of the recess 4 and in advance of the pin '6 is a pintle10, one of whose ends is carried outside of the coupling-head 1 andfor-med in to a crank-arm 1 Upon such pintle 10 are rigidly secured thetwo curved or inclined cam lifting sur-; faces 12 and 13, "one 13 beingsituated to act on the coupling-bar of the head in which it is situated,and the other 12 on the 'coupli-ng- As one then acts on a bar near itsfulcrum and the other on'a bar at almost the extreme distance from itsfulcrum, their projection and lifting capacity T are correspondinglyVaried, the surface 13 be- 1 Both bar of the adjacent car.

ing much smaller than the surface 12. maybe formed integral or they maybe formed separately and secured properly on the pintl'e 10.

From the free end of the crank-arm 11 a chain or cord 14 proceedsthrough or over eyes or pulleys 19 16 to the top of the car, whileanother cord or chain 15 leads from the same point through eyes orpulleys 19 17 to the side of the car. cords orchains may end inrings orother forms of handles, giving opportunity for a good grasp thereon andpreventing them from slipping backward through the eyes or pul- 1eys.'This arrangement of handles and the location of eye'or pulley 17therefor are-shown in dotted lines. It is evident that as either cord orchain is pulled upon it will raise the crankarm 11, turning the pintle10 and throwing upward the cam-surfaces 12 13, which in turn lift thecoupling-bars they are then under, releasing the hook ends 7 thereoffrom engagement with the pin 6, uncoupling the cars united by thecoupling bars so acted on. It may be preferable, however, for speedyaction with a minimum of force to have these cords or chains operated onby levers, in which case a lever 20 is pivoted upon the end of the carand near its top with its free end projecting thereabove, and to suchlever the upper or outer end of the .cord or chain 1 L is fastened. Asimilar lever 21 is pivoted upon the end of the car At their free endsthese near the bottom, and with-its free end projecting down below thebase of the car, but in such proximity to theside of the car that it maybe reached manually or by a hooked rod from beyond the side of thetrain, and to this lever is secured the outer end of chain or cord 15.'Gu'ideways 22 should be provided for each lever, supporting them andlimiting the amount of movement which may be given them. To lock thelevers in the uncoupling position, these guideways may be ratchettoothedin the usual Way; or a simple pin 23 may be used for such locking byinserting it in a hole 24 made at the proper point.

As sometimes, as before stated, there may be necessity for the use ofthe common link and pin, a hook 25 may be secured in the end of the carnear to the coupling-head, whereon may hang a link or pin ready for usewhen and at the spot required.

As the coupling-hook bar maybe arranged to drop several degrees belowand many more degrees above the horizontal line thereof, these couplingsmay be used safely with cars having considerable difference of distancefrom the ground to the coupling head.

The construction thus illustrated and described accomplishes fully theobjects of my invention and possesses all the requisites of a safepractical automatic car-coupling, as set forth, and the use of suchcar-couplings would obviate to the extent of their use the perils anddanger to life and limb of brake and switch men before alluded to.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is' v 1. Thecombination of a coupling-head or draw-bar having an opentopped recess 4above the ordinary link-recess, a coupling-bar having a beveledandundercut hook end and independently pivoted in the upper recess, alesser cam taking beneath such bar, a larger cam adapted to take beneaththe coacti'ng coupling bar of the adjacent coupler, a pintle or shaftupon which such cams are secured pivoted in the Walls of the upperrecessand beneath the line of pivoting of the coupling-bar, and means,substantially as described, for lifting the cams to simultaneouslydisengage both coupling-bars, substanas set forth.

4. The combination of coupling-head 1, In testimonywhereoflaffix mysignature in coupling-bar 5, pivoted in a recess therein presence of twowitnesses. and having the undercut hook end 7, with side bevel 26,spring 27, pin 6, pintle 10, with HENRY NIEMANN. 5 projecting crank-arm11, cam-surfaces 12 13, \Vitnesses:

secured upon the pintle, and the cords 01' Z. F. WILBER,

chains 14: 15, substantially as set forth. J As. R. HANSON.

